Role & functions

The National Water Commission is an independent statutory authority that provides advice to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the Australian Government on national water issues.

We are responsible for providing independent assurance of governments' progress on water reform. We also promote the objectives and outcomes of the National Water Initiative (NWI)—an agreement signed by all governments in Australia.

Governing legislation

Under the amended Act, the Commission has three core ongoing functions: monitoring, audit, and assessment. We are also empowered to undertake broader activities that promote national water reform objectives.

The Commission has additional functions under other Commonwealth acts and regulations:

The Water Act 2007 assigned an ongoing function to audit the effectiveness of the implementation of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan and associated water resource plans. The Commission is required to conduct its first audit by March 2013 and subsequently no later than five years from the conduct of the first audit.